


A Purr-fect Day

by doctorbuffypotterlock79



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race (US) RPF
Genre: F/F, Lesbian AU, Lots of Cats, Rajila cameo, Rose/Denali cameo, b volunteers in a cat shelter and v gets a cat, cat shelter au, just pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29341293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorbuffypotterlock79/pseuds/doctorbuffypotterlock79
Summary: Vanessa decides to adopt a cat, and finds herself instantly crushing on Brooke, the beautiful cat shelter volunteer.
Relationships: Brooke Lynn Hytes/Vanessa Vanjie Mateo
Comments: 20
Kudos: 27





	A Purr-fect Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is just pure fluff, and I really hope you all enjoy it! I also put in small cameos of Rose/Denali because I wanted to write them a little, and Rajila. Thank you so much to Writ for suggesting this idea, and for betaing! Please leave some feedback if you like. Sorry not sorry about the title.

Even with the fluffy cats running around and meowing, the blonde is still the first thing Vanessa notices. 

She’s at the information desk, going over something in a notebook, pausing now and then to sip coffee and glance at the cats in their kennels—fluffy ones, big ones, little ones, striped ones, spotted ones—and Vanessa doesn’t know if the woman or the cats will make her heart explode first. 

“Hi,” Vanessa says, approaching the desk.

The blonde’s green eyes widen and her teeth shine in a brilliant smile when she looks up to see Vanessa. “Hi, how can I help—no, Mr. Tibbles! We don’t attack our friends!” She runs over to an enormous gray cat who’s swinging paws at a frightened orange kitten. Vanessa can’t stop smiling as the blonde carefully scoops up the attacker and returns him to his side of the kennel, soothing the orange kitten with some gentle strokes before breathlessly running back to Vanessa. 

“Sorry,” she says, fixing her hair. “We’re a little short staffed. It’s just me and Ida, and she’s on break.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Vanessa says, heart fluttering at how the blonde’s— _Brooke_ , according to her slightly crooked name tag—cheeks are tinged bright pink. 

“So, um, how can I help you?” 

“I want to get a cat.” 

Brooke nods. “Any kind in particular?” 

“I was hoping I could just play with them and pick one,” Vanessa says sheepishly. 

Brooke’s smile is huge. “Of course! That’s how I picked mine out.” She leads Vanessa around the corner, into a tiny room with even more kennels. There are so many kitties rolling around that Vanessa all but melts, dropping to the floor and opening her arms for the balls of fluff to run into. 

Brooke grins, and then she’s on the floor too, gently petting a striped brown cat. 

“Okay if I join you?” Brooke asks sheepishly. “I love playing with them.” 

“Of course. They really like you,” Vanessa says, watching three cats fight for position on Brooke’s lap. 

Brooke nods. “They’re used to me, that’s why. And I give them treats. Isn’t that right, Pepper?” She pets a chunky black cat and blushes. “Look, that one likes you, see?” 

Vanessa looks down at a fluffy white cat that’s butting his head into her knee, letting out little _mrrps_. 

“His name’s Thackery.” 

“Thackery.” Vanessa tries it out, hand melting into his soft fur. He purrs beneath her, looking up at her in wonder, and Vanessa’s sold. “I’ll take him.” 

She almost wishes it took her a little longer to find one, because now she’ll have to say goodbye to Brooke. 

—-

Vanessa fixes her hair in the rear view mirror. It’s lame to be back at the shelter so soon, she knows that, and Brooke gave her paperwork on feeding and care instructions, but Vanessa has a question on Thackery, and who better to ask than Brooke? Sure, there’s Google, but every website gives her a different answer. Brooke is definitely a cat expert, and any opportunity to see her is one that should be taken. 

There’s an older woman at the desk when Vanessa walks in, peering at her through pointy turquoise glasses that look into Vanessa’s soul. Vanessa wonders if Brooke isn’t here today when she turns and sees Brooke feeding all the cats, and breathes a sigh of relief. 

“You need help, hon?” The scratchy voice comes from the counter, and Vanessa marches up to the woman, name tag reading _Ida_. 

“Um, I just had a question for Brooke.”

“You her friend or something?”

“Kinda …” Vanessa sweats under Ida’s glare. Nothing like an old lady’s stink eye to steal her usual charm. “I mean, she helped me before, and we talked a little, and I wanted to talk to her about my cat.”

Ida nods. “ _BROOKE!!!_ Girl here has a question for you!! I’m goin’ on break!”

Vanessa checks her ringing ears while Brooke bounds over to the desk, and her face lights up when she recognizes Vanessa. 

“Hi,” Brooke says. 

“Hi. I’m Vanessa, by the way. I never told you last time. I mean, I know I signed my name on the paperwork but anyway--” She forces her lips shut to stop her rambling. “Just wanted to introduce myself.”

Brooke just grins. “I’m Brooke. Which you probably know because of my name tag. Um, Ida said you had a question?”

“Right!” Vanessa latches onto the thread that will save her from the awkwardness. “So, Thackery keeps sprawling out all over the place and rubbing his back on the rug? And I looked it up, and one site said he might have an itch, and another said he might be stretching, and I just wanted to make sure he’s okay.”

If Brooke thinks her coming here to ask a relatively simple, clearly Googe-able question is weird, she doesn’t show it. “Well, it could be either of those, and if you think it’s an itch, you might want to call the vet. But with most cats--mine too--stretching out like that means they’re happy and safe. That they trust you.”

“Oh,” Vanessa says softly. “So he--he really likes me then?” she asks, heart swelling at the thought of Thackery liking her. 

“I would think so.” Brooke’s whole face turns fiery red as she adds, “It’s easy to see why.”

Now it’s Vanessa’s turn to blush, eyes flitting down to her feet. “I took this video of him the other day, you gotta see it. He got stuck in all the pillows, look--”

Brooke leans in close as they huddle together and watch the video, dissolving into laughs and squeals. Vanessa almost can’t breathe with Brooke this close to her, smelling faintly of strawberry shampoo, her eyes bright and shining. Vanessa scrolls through some more Thackery pictures on her phone, and Brooke shows Vanessa pictures of her two cats pouting in Santa hats, the whole thing coming to a stop when a couple comes in with their kid, wanting to look at the cats. 

“Sorry, Vanessa,” Brooke says quietly. “Ida’s still on break.”

“Don’t worry about it. You do your job, get another kitty a nice home.”

Brooke smiles. “I will.”

“I’ll be back if I have more questions and stuff. If that’s okay,” Vanessa says, holding her breath. 

“Absolutely.”

Brooke brings the couple over to the kennels, and Vanessa starts thinking of cat questions she might need answered. 

\---

Vanessa doesn’t even pretend to have a question in mind when she heads back to the shelter. It’s been almost two weeks, and though she doesn’t want to look desperate, every day is a day Brooke might forget her, even though Vanessa doesn’t think that’ll happen from the wide-eyed smile Brooke has for her all the time. 

She can’t even think of a reasonable question anyway. Thackery has been great, really settling into Vanessa’s apartment like he owns the place. He eats all the food she carefully pours into his bowl, and he even figured out how to jump across the couch without getting stuck in the pillows, an act that means Vanessa has to vacuum cat hair off her couch a lot more often. But when he purrs when she holds him and falls asleep curled up at her feet in bed, it’s all worth it. She doesn’t know how Brooke manages to work at the shelter without bringing home every kitty she sees. 

Things are quiet when she walks in. Ida is back at the front desk, filling out a crossword puzzle and cursing under her breath. 

Vanessa walks closer. “Um, is--”

“You’re the girl who was looking for Brooke before,” Ida says plainly, sharp eyes peering out from her turquoise glasses. 

Vanessa blushes. She’s definitely not as slick as she thought, if even Ida remembers her coming here to see Brooke. “Yeah. Is she here today?”

Ida nods. “She’s in the back. We have a litter of kittens ready to be adopted. Brooke’s been taking care of them.”

Vanessa rounds the corner and breathes out a soft aww when she sees Brooke on the floor, stroking five fluffy kittens, their fur swirls of browns and whites and oranges. She loves how much Brooke cares about the cats, how her affection comes through in her soft whispers and gentle pets. Her movements are so soft and delicate, so careful and caring, and Vanessa wonders what it would be like to have Brooke’s hands stroking her hair, rubbing her back. 

“Five new kitties?” Vanessa asks quietly. 

Brooke turns to her and grins. “Yeah. Come see.” She motions for Vanessa to sit at her side, and Vanessa does, getting down on the white tile. The kittens nuzzle against each other, tiny paws outstretched. “We posted about them online and there’s two couples interested. They’re coming by in a bit.” 

“I love them!” Vanessa squeals. “Have you named them yet?” 

“Not yet. There are five, though, so maybe we should name them after the Spice Girls.” Brooke blushes. “My friends and I did a group costume of them one year. Somehow they convinced me to be Sporty Spice.” 

Vanessa squeals. “First of all, you have to name them that, it’s adorable. Second of all, there better be a picture of you in that costume!” 

Brooke sighs. “There is.” She pulls out her phone and surrenders it to Vanessa, who actually gasps. There are four other people in the picture, but Vanessa only has eyes for Brooke: bright red sweatpants clinging to her hips, blue sports bra showing off her toned stomach and every curve and muscle in her arms, eyes shining in her cheesy smile. 

“Damn.” Vanessa whistles, hoping Brooke can’t notice how hot Vanessa’s face is. “Look at y’all all organized and stuff. I tried a cowgirl group costume with my friends and A’keria misheard and showed up in a freaking cow costume.” 

Brooke bursts into laughter at her side. “Is there a picture of that?” 

Vanessa obliges, and then she and Brooke are in a comfortable silence, their shoulders touching as they watch the cats snuggle and pet their heads occasionally. Vanessa could stay like this all day, and she’s wondering if maybe she should ask Brooke out, get to know her somewhere without cats meowing, when a shout makes them both jump. 

“ _BROOKE!!!_ The first couple for the cats is here!!! I’m goin’ on break!!” 

The couple by the reception desk is a lesbian power couple if Vanessa’s ever seen one. There’s a tall woman with dark hair and bright blue necklace proclaiming her to be Raja, with a shorter woman with big black waves at her side. They’re both definitely in fashion or art or something—aside from their delicate hands that are built for sketching, Raja’s leather jacket is covered in hand-painted swirls and the other woman’s Hostess cupcake earrings are clearly handmade. They look like the cool aunts who’d let you have wine at the family gatherings, and Vanessa feels a surge of pride when Raja nods at approval at her jean jacket. 

“Which one should we get, Manila?” Raja asks. 

“We _have_ to get Posh.” 

“Of course,” Raja agrees. 

“Do you think I could sew cat clothes? I could definitely sew cat clothes,” Manila answers her own question. 

Raja grins. “We’re gonna have the best dressed cat in the city.” 

“In the _state_ , Raja. Maybe even the country.” 

They’re barely out the door when the next couple walks in, and Vanessa does a double-take, because apparently it’s lesbian power couple day at the cat shelter. These two are a little shorter than the first two, but no less impressive. The one with brown hair glides across the tile floor and squeals when she sees the kitties, the blonde in the royal blue power suit behind her waving and cooing at all the other cats. 

The brunette strokes one of the kittens. “I want to take all four!”

“Denali, honey, we really only have room for one,” the blonde says. 

“Four.” 

“One.”

“Four.” 

“One.”

“Two?” 

The blonde pauses. “Okay, two.” She smiles and grabs Denali’s hand. “We’ll get Sporty Spice for you, Miss Figure Skater, and then Ginger Spice for that time I tried to dye my hair pink and it came out red.”

“That was more like Scary Spice,” Denali mumbles. 

“Denali!” 

“It’s true, Rosie. But I love you anyway.” 

Vanessa fades back as she watches the couple grab their cats and fill out the paperwork Brooke gives them. She springs back to Brooke’s side once they leave, and all she can think is what it would be like to be with Brooke in that way, to have stories and jokes between just them. As much as she wants to ask Brooke out, the moment is gone. Ida’s still on break, and Vanessa sticks around a little longer, passing Brooke the bags of food for the cats and watching her organize paperwork. Vanessa heads out, vowing that next time, she’ll make her move. 

—-

Today’s the day. Vanessa’s red skirt is a little--definitely--too much for a cat shelter, but this is the day she’s really going to go for it. Even in just minutes at the shelter, Brooke makes Vanessa smile in a way no one has for a while. She wants to have time to be with Brooke, time to talk as long as they want without cats needing food or people asking questions. 

Ida looks up expectantly when Vanessa walks in, a smile on her bright pink lips. “Brooke’s in the back,” she says, before Vanessa can even ask. 

“Okay--”

“ _BROOKE!!!!_ Your friend is here!! I’m goin’ on break!!”

Ida shuffles off with her crossword puzzle book under her arm, and Brooke runs out breathlessly, grinning when she sees Vanessa. “Hey,” she says. “Everything okay with Thackery?”

“Will you go out with me?” Vanessa blurts, ignoring Brooke’s question before she loses her nerve. 

Brooke’s cheeks are bright pink, but she’s still smiling, and Vanessa doesn’t think she’d be smiling if the answer was no. 

“I--I’d love to go out with you, Vanessa. I finish up here at four, do you want to get coffee or something?”

Vanessa’s smile is so huge she can hardly get the words out. “That’d be great, Brooke.”

“About damn time!” Ida’s voice soars through the break room wall. “I thought I’d be on break forever waiting for you two to get together already!”


End file.
